Rapid drying slab mix passes test toward timely school opening

Redi-Mix LLC, a business unit of U.S. Concrete, Inc., has delivered sustainable concrete to six Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) projects, the mixes formulated for a net savings of 108.7 million lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions. The Billy Earl Dade Middle School also incorporated the producer’s Aridus Rapid Drying Concrete to address aggressive scheduling requirements in advance of a late-August opening.

The original construction schedule for the Billy Earl Dade Middle School was 14 months, risking failure to meet the start of 2013-14 classes. Working with the general contractor Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc., and joint venture architects Kell Munoz and KAI Texas, the construction team selected U.S. Concrete’s Aridus brand to shorten the construction schedule. The specification for the building’s slab cut the construction schedule by 30 percent, from 14 months to 10 months, and resulted in similar reductions in overhead costs.

The patented Aridus product was developed by U.S. Concrete’s National Research Laboratory, USC Technologies, Inc., to address recent changes in environmental regulations that limit or restrict certain flooring adhesive compounds. While these new formulations can reduce the environmental impact of new flooring installations, they prove less durable and more susceptible to moisture-related issues than prior solutions. As a result, contractors have been forced to combat the problems by adding slab sealers or lengthening the drying time of the concrete, in hopes of reducing the risk of liabilities associated with the failures of floor coverings. In addition, these remedies increase the construction time and costs associated with the projects.

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